Apparatus for spacing articles



June 5, 1923.

C. H. DREHER APPARATUS FOR SPACING ATICLES Filed July 25 192'2 ./vo 00000 00.0 OOOL,

Patented June 5, 1923.

l UNITEJ)`- STATES*v PATENT 'DEFI-Caf -CHARLES H. DREHER, or BUFFALO,,NEW Yoan.

APPARATUS ronV srAoiim ARTICLES.`

Application filed Juli7 25, 1922.,"Seria1 Nok. 577,437.'

To all whomy z'zf may concern: y

Be it known thatI, CHARLES H. DnEHER, 'a citizen of the United States,residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of vNew.York, haveinvented'new vand useful Improvements in Apparatus for Spacing'Articles, of which the following is a speci fication. Y f

`This-invention relates to an apparatus for spacing articles'the properdistance apart so that' they can be operated upon most effectively, andmore particularly to an ap' Y paratus of this character whichis designedto take a succession of loaves of doughl in a promiscu'ousa'nd variouslyspacedA position relatively to each other f'roma proofing mw chine andspaces the same at regularand uniform distances apart before deliveringthese lumps of dough to a mouldingand kneading machine preparatory `toplacing these loaves in abake oven.

vIt is the object of this invention to p rovide an apparatus forspacingarticles which is very simple in construction and capable ofbeing applied as an adjunct to bakers proofing or similar machinesascommonly manufactured for the trade, and which willtake the lumps ofdough as they are discharged successively and at irregular `distancesapart from a proofing machine and accurately space the same apartwithout liability of any misses, so that they are presented properly tothe machines which subsequently operate upon the loaves, therebypreventing the `formation of what is known as double loaves at the pointof discharge of the proofer, which otherwise l.would necessitate theemployment of an eXtranian at some point between the discharge end ofthe proofer 'corresponding parts in the views.

1 l0 is the enclosing casing of the proofing machine'in which isarranged a conveyer tail end thereof under'the head endV of theVmechanism wherebythe loaves or lumps of v dough l1 are slowly movedback and forthy through a long course, 'so-that these loaves f arethoroughly -proofed between .the time that they enter the top of thismachine until they enter the .outlet at thelower end'thereof. The meansAfor conveying the lumps of dough through` this proofer may bevrvariously constructed, but as shown in thedrawings, the same comprisesav plurality of belt conveyers l2 which are arrangedonemabove the otherlwithin the enclosing-casing and Y each lmounted at its opposite -endsvaround 'supporting pulleys or rollers 13,14, andintermediate guiderollers, said rollers orpulleys being mounted on themainiframeil withinthe enclosing casing and operated by vanysutable and well known meansfIn ythe preferred construction shown vin the'drawings, these' proofingbelt conveyer'sare so Varranged that the 'lumps of dough arecari* riedforwardly by the-'upperstretch ofeach of the belts 112 and thendischarged from-the horizontal upper stretch lof the neXt lower proofingbeltconveyer, whereby'the `loaves f are carried in longitudinal rowsalternatelyk in opposite directions within the enclosing.

casing; The rate of travel of these yproofing Vbelt conveyers may-bevaried, ibut itis usually about one hundred andtwenty feet'v per `rminute.` As--the lumps of dough are dis"- chargedv from Vthe .scale androunder1 upon the uppermostbelt conveyer ofthe proc-fer, they arearranged -inV different s'paced'rela` tions to each other, some beingspaced' relaso far as theioperationof other mechanism tively far apart,whch isnotobjectionable on these lumpsfof dough is concernedraifter fthe proofing operation while other'lumps of .dough are liable tooverlapeachother or be so closely arranged-next to each other-that theyare r liable'to enter the" kneader andl vmoulder as one loaf andtherefore necessitate separating these double loaves and doing theproofing' work over again. To avoid this,

the loa-ves 0r lumpsvof dough'asthey issue f i 'i from the lowermostproofing '.belt-coiiveyeru of the proofing machine.'l may be regarded asan instance of a means vfor supplying articles which are to bespacedproper 'distances apart, the* supply of these articlesbeing'irregular or of promiscuous spacing'sonfar as i therelativeposition of v'the several articles onA the vsupply belt orconveyeris'c''nicerne'd.

gether, one behind the other.

As the lumps of dough are discharged from the tail end 'of thislowermost proofing belt conveyer, the same are operated upon by thespacing apparatus which embodies my invention and which in its preferredform is constructed as follows:

17 represents a stationary guide which is inclined and in the form of acomparatively Hat wide belt which has its upper receiving orphead endarranged adjacent to the delivery or tail end of thelowermost articlesupplying conveyer, so thatu the loaves or lumps of dough as theyissue'lrom this conveyer lwill be delivered upon this incline and slidefreely and quickly from the upper elevated end of this incline to thelower depressed end of the same. l i

LAdjacent to the lower end of the incline 17 is arranged a gatheringdevice which Voperates to gather the several lumpsv of dough in alongitudinal row and in such vposition that they` are arranged either inactual contact with each other or -closo ton its preerred form, thisgathering device comprises an endless belt conveyer or apron 1 8,theiuppel` or operative stretch of which is inclined and extendsvupwardly from, its lower or head end to its elevated tail or dischargeend.` The head end of the operative 'stretch of the gathering conveyeris arranged immediatelylbelo-w the .lower end of the inclined guide17andpasses around a supportingpulley or roller 19, while the elevateddelivery end orI head of this conveyer passes around a pulley or roller20, these rollers being mounted on shafts 2l,

r272, respectively which are journaled in suit- `able bearings o n themain frame of the machine.v The rate of travel of this gatheringconveyer is comparatively slow, but preferably about twenty-eight feetp'er minute,

Vwhichcau'ses the, loaves of doughr which are directed from kthe fastertraveling lowermost supply belt conveyer by the incline 17 to thegathering conveyer, to be deposited `on the latter at sucha rate thatthe succeeding loaves-of dough form a longitudinal row l on the same inwhich each loaf or each lump of dough either touches or is arrangedclose to the preceding lump of dough on the gathering conveyer. H lumpsof dough are deliveredto the incline 17 faster than they are dischargedfrom the latter to the gathering conveyer, the excess number of lumpswill 'torni a longitudinal row on the upper side of the incline, asshown in Figs.

Vl and 3, and thus form a reserve supply which will maintain acontinuity of feeding of lumps of dough to the gathering apron in theevent that too great a space occurs between some lof the lumps or' doughVon the supply conveyer, thereby operating as a regulator which takesthe loaves coming from the supply conveyer in an irreg- `endless belt orapron 23, the upper operative stretch of which is preferably inclinedslightly and arranged with its lower head or receiving end below thetail end or the gathering conveyer, while its elevated discharge endv isarranged over a chute or spout 24, whereby the lumps of dough afterbeing properly spaced apart when discharged from the spreading conveyer,are directed to the kneading and moulding apparatus which subsequentlyoperates upon the dough, preparatory to introducting the same into theoven for bakinginto `finished loaves. The head and tail portions of thespreading conveyer pass around rolls or pulleys Q5, 26, which aremounted on transverse shafts 27, 28, journaled in suitable'bearings onthe main frame. This spreading conveyer is operated so that it moves ata rate of speed somewhat faster than the speed of the article supplyingconveyer and considerably faster than the rate ofV speed ofthe gatheringconveyer, for example, at rthe rate of about one hundred and eightyiteet per minute. It follows from this construction, that as each lumpof dough falls from the tail of the gathering conveyer onto thespreadingconveyer, the same will be moved 'forward very rapidly andproduceV a gap or even spacing between this lump of dough and thenextviollowng lump of doughde posited upon this spreading conveyer bythe slowly moving gatheringconveyer. Inasmuch as the lumps of dough arearranged endto end in avlongitudinal row and in a delinite closerelation to each other on the gathering conveyer, the same will be delivered in regular order to the spreading conveyer, which latter howeverwill space them apart a. considerable distance, which distance isdetermined by the capacity o r method ot operation of the machine whichsubsequently operates individually upon these articles, which in thepresent instance is the kneading and moulding machine, which may be ofany suitable and well known type.

The relative speed of the article supply conveyer, the gatheringconveyer and spreading conveyer and the inclination of the regulatingguide maybe varied to suit diiferent installations, and the speed orcapacity of other machines with which this iio -means of suitablegearingA 31.

' Motion may be transmitted to this driving shaft by any approved form,for instance,

such. as an electric motor mounted ad.-

jacent thereto and geared therewith by Motionis transmitted fromV thisdriving shaft tothe intermediate roller or pulleyl of the lowermostarticle supply conveyer bymeans of a bevel gear pinion 32 arranged.onfthe driving shaft and meshing with a bevel gear v vheel` 33securedqto one end of vthe shaft of the intermediate roller 15. Theopposite end of this shaft is provided with a spur gear pinion 34 whichmeshes with a spur gear wheel 35 secured to the adja vcent end of theshaft which carries the adjacent end supporting roller or pulley 14 'ofthe lowermost supply conveyer.

36 represents a countershaft journaled transversely in a suitablebearing on the main frame and provided with a bevel gear wheel 37meshing with a bevel gear pinion 38 on the adjacent part of the drivingshaft 29.

39 represents an intermediate shaft journaled horizontally andtransversely in suitable bearings on the main frame and provided with anouter sprocket gear wheel 40 and an inner sprocket pinion 41. A

chain belt 42 passes around the sprocketk pinion 41 and a smallersprocket pinion 52 on the countershaft 36, and a ychain belt 43 passesaround the sprocket wheel 40 and a sprocket pinion 44 which is securedto one end of the shaft which carries the roller 25 upon which ismounted the heador receiving end of the gathering conveyer.

Motion is transmittedr from the intermedi-` ate shaft 39 to thekgathering conveyer by means of a spur gear pinion 45 secured to theintermediate shaft on the outer side of the casing and meshing with aspur gear wheel 46 on the adjacent end of the shaft 21 which carries thehead or receiving pulley 19 of the gathering conveyer.

By means of this driving mechanism, the several speeds above describedlwith reference to these conveyers will be imparted thereto and cause theseveral lumps of dough arranged ina longitudinal rowy but 1n anirregular spaced relation relatively to each other to be delivered tothe inclined regulating guide, which latter delivers them upontheslowlyy moving gathering conveyer and causes these lumps of dough tobearranged in a longitudinal row thereon but in such' justapostionythat. these lumps vwill not overlapibut have an end to end con tact,ythus insuringthe delivery of these lumps one at a time at definiteintervals to the' spreading conveyer, Vwhich latter, in

turn separates thesev lumps,` with equally 4definite spaces betweenthesame to linsure individual operation upon theseloaves by j the vmachine.which subsequently receives thesaniev .f e I claimas my invention.:`

scribed, comprising a stationary incline whichreceives articles to bespaced irregularly from* a source of supply, a vgathering conveyer whichreceives the articles `from said incline, anda spreading conveyer whichreceives said articles from. said gatheringv conveyer, `said spreading vconveyery having a faster4 propelling effect than 4 saidv gatheringconveyer.l i

1.Anapparatus2 of the; character. 'dei 2. An apparatus of the character-described, comprising a supply conveyer whichv supplies. articles to bespaced a stationaryincline which lreceives the articles to be spacedfrom said supply conveyer, a'gathering conveyer which receives `saidarticles from said incline, and a spreading conveyer which receives saidarticles from said gathering conveyer vand delivers thel same in spacedrelation to one another, said gathering conveyer having a propellingefl'ect` which is slower than saidsupply conveyer,

and said spreading conveyer having a pro- 'pelling eli'ect which isfaster than said gathering" co-nveyer.

3. An apparatus spaced condition, articles which are toy be p "of" thevcharacter de@ scribed, comprising a -supplying belt conveyerwhichsupplies in. a promiscuously'k v regularly spaced, a stationary inclinewhich extends downwardly-from the tail end ofsaid supplying conveyer andreceives said articles from the latter, a gathering belt conveyer havingan upper inclined operative arranged to receive said `articles from thelower end of said incline, and a spreading belt conveyer havingan upperoperative stretch the head end of which receives said articles fromv.the tail of said gathering belt conveyer and the tail of which isadapted to deliver the articles to the placeintended toy stretch theheadv of which is depressed and l receive the same, said gatheringconveyer being driven at a rate slowerthan said supplying conveyer andspreading'conveyer.

4. An apparatus of` the characterv described, comprising a supplyingbeltvconveyer vwhich supplies in a promiscuously spaced conditionarticles which are to be regularly spaced, a stationary incline whichextends downwardly from the tail end of said supplying conveyer andreceives said articles 'from the latter, a gathering beltc'onveyerhaving an upper inclined operative stretch the head of which isdepressed and arranged to receive said articles frointhe lower end ofsaid incline, a spreading belt conveyer having an upper operativestretch the head end of which receives said articles from the tail ofsaid gathering belt conveyer and the tail of which is adapted to deliverthe articles to the place intended to receive the saine, and means fordriving said gather ing conveyer slower than the 'supplyingl conveyerand also driving said spreading conveyer faster than said gathering andsupplying conveyers.

5. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a supplying beltconveyer which supplies in a proiniscuously spaced condition varticleswhich are to be regularly spaced, a stationary incline which extendsdownwardly` from the tail end of said supplying conveyer and receivessaid articles from the latter, a gathering belt conveyer having an upperinclined operative stretch the head of which is depressed vand arrangedto receive said articles 'frein the lower end of said incline, aspreading belt coiiv'eyer having` an upper operative stretch the headend of which receives said articles frein the tail of said gatheringbelt conveyer and the tail of whichk is adapted to deliver the articlesto the place intended to receive the saine, and'nieans for driving saidgathering conveyer slower than the supplying conveye'r and also drivingsaid spreading conveyer faster than said 'athering and supplyingconveyers, comprising a driving shaft, bevel gearing connecting saiddriving shaft with said supplying conveyer, a

counteishaft, bevel gearing connecting said, n

driving shaft and countershaft, belt gearing connecting saidcountershaft with said spreading conveyer, and spur gearing connectingsaid belt gearing with said gather` nig ccnveyer.

CHARLES DREHER.

